Author's Note: For some reason I am in a writing mood and so I went on and wrote chapter 3. It's probably because of all the positive feedback I got about my first two chapters. So I'd like to thank everyone for their reviews. You guys are so encouraging and honest. I really appreciate it! Hope you like this chapter.

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            Seven o'clock rolled around and Hermione stood in front of her mirror, checking over her reflection. She thought she looked pretty nice. She was wearing a khaki skirt and a cute blue polo. Her hair was somewhat straighter than usual. Earlier that day she had gone through her trunk and found the Sleek-Easy's cream she had used for the Yule Ball. She didn't apply it as liberally this time, but it still had a nice effect on her hair.

            "Hermione, I'm giving you three seconds to get down here," came her father's voice from the hallway. "One—"

            She hurried out of her room and appeared over the banister, staring down at her father. He was frowning at her.

            "That's a rather short skirt."

            Hermione ignored him. She made her way gracefully down the stairs.

            "Hermione, I said that skirt is too short," he repeated.

            "Dad, it's fine. You should see how some other girls wear them."

            Her father considered this and said no more. He checked his watch and frowned again. "Clarissa, we're going to be late!"

            Hermione's mum came striding down the hallway, fixing an earring in her ear. "Sorry, Danior," she said in exasperated tones. "Hermione, you look nice. But pull your skirt down just a bit."

            Hermione sighed and tugged on her skirt. Her parents opened the door and walked quickly over to the car. Hermione followed behind, somewhat less enthusiastically.

            After many boring minutes in the car, in which her parents talked excitedly about the redecorating they were doing in their office, they finally arrived at Dr. Mach's house. Hermione got out of the car and stared up at it. It was huge.

            She followed her parents timidly to the door. The lights were very bright inside and she could hear a lot of chatter and soft music. Her father rang the doorbell and the Granger's were soon greeted by a middle-aged man holding a glass of wine.

            "Dan! Clarissa! So glad you could make it. And who is this lovely young lady?" he said, staring kindly at Hermione.

            "Rocco, we'd like you to meet our daughter Hermione," said her dad, beaming proudly at her.

            "Very nice to meet you, Miss Hermione."

            "Nice to meet you too, Dr. Mach," she returned, shaking his hand.

            "Oh call me Rocco. Won't you come in?" he clapped Hermione's father on the back and led him in to the party.

            Hermione turned to her mother. "His name's Rocco Mach? Roc Mach?"

            "Quiet, Hermione," her mum whispered sharply. She strode after her husband and Hermione walked quickly behind.

            "Rissa, would you like a glass of wine?" asked Dr. Mach when they had caught up with him.

            Hermione turned away from the conversation and looked around. There had to be about eighty people here, all dressed up in fancy business outfits. They were all holding glasses of wine and chatting merrily.

            She wound her way through all the adults, nodding politely at some of them. She wished she was almost anywhere else. A drinks table was set along one wall and she made her away over to it. Nearly everything was some type of alcohol but she found a pitcher of water and poured herself a glass.

            Hermione could feel eyes on her and turned to her left. A boy was standing in the corner watching her. He had dark eyes and dark hair and was wearing a light blue shirt and tie.

            "Hi," she said. "I'm Hermione Granger. Are you Dr. Mach's son?"

            "Yeah, nice to meet you. I'm Henry. Umm…you aren't a dentist, are you?"

            Hermione laughed. "Do I look old enough to be a dentist?"

            "Well, no, but why else would you be here?" he asked.

            "My parents sort of made me come."

            "Oh."

            "Yeah."

            "How old are you?"

            "I'll be sixteen in September. How old are you?" she asked him.

            "I just turned sixteen last week," he replied.

            "Oh, happy belated birthday."

            "Thanks." He smiled. It was sort of a cute smile. "Would you like to go watch television or something? I'm starting to get bored watching all these old people."

            Hermione grinned. "Of course I would. I've only been here five minutes and I'm bored."

            He laughed. They walked past all the chattering dentists and Hermione picked up snatches of conversation like, "Oh yes, his teeth were horrible…" and "If you ask me, braces should be made more affordable."

            Soon Henry had led her into a room on the other wing of the house where it was much quieter. He sat down on the couch and picked up the remote control. Hermione sat down in an armchair next to the couch and leaned back to watch the telly.

            Henry started flipping through channels but couldn't seem to find anything to watch. Finally he settled on The Wizard of Oz. They sat in silence for several minutes and watched Dorothy confront the Wicked Witch of the West.

            "I wish places like that actually did exist," Henry said suddenly. "Where we could have little midget people and those giant castles. And witches…except, you know, not the wicked ones."

            Hermione squirmed uncomfortably. "Yes, me too," she said.

            "You probably think I'm weird, huh?"

            "What? No, not at all!" she said, quite taken aback. "No, it would be very, very nice if all that stuff existed." She grinned.

            They went back to watching the movie for several more minutes. Apparently Henry became bored with it because he started talking again.

            "So, where do you go to school?"

            "Umm…I go to boarding school actually. In Scotland."

            "Why? Don't your parents like you?"

            She laughed. "Of course they like me. It's…erm…well, my mom went there so she wanted to send me there as well," she lied.

            "Oh."

            "Where do you go?"

            "Holy Cross Preparatory," he answered dully.

            "Oh I see. Do you like it?"

            "It's alright." He paused. "Except that it's an all boys school."

            "Oh," said Hermione carefully. She wondered where this was going.

            "Yeah, so I don't see girls very often."
            "No, I suppose you don't."

            He stared at her. "It's always nice to be in a girl's company, since I'm usually not around them."

            "Mmmhmm," Hermione said. She felt very self-conscious.

            "Especially when they're pretty."

            "Yes." She bit her lip.

            "You're very pretty, you know."

            Now it was Hermione's turn to stare at him. "You really think so?"

            "'Course I do. Wanna come sit on the couch?" he said, patting the spot next to him.

            She blushed. "Umm…thanks, Henry, but I'm fine here." She turned back to the movie and pretended to watch it, but really her thoughts were somewhere else. This boy thought she was pretty. Maybe there was hope for her after all.

            After another five minutes of silence, Henry spoke again.

            "Come on, come sit on the couch with me."      

            Hermione considered. She couldn't really think of an excuse to say no. She slowly rose from the armchair and settled herself next to him, making sure she left several inches of space.

            While Hermione tried very hard to concentrate on the movie, she noticed that Henry was trying to discreetly move closer to her. She clenched her teeth and stared ahead.

            Soon Henry had closed the space between them and was now sitting very close to her. She was trying hard not to breathe. He tentatively draped his arm around her shoulders and she became very rigid.

            "You're really tense," Henry said, staring at her.

            She nodded.

            "You have really nice lips," he stated.

            She swallowed. "Thanks." She stared ahead at the movie, not really focusing her eyes. Her thoughts strayed to one person, and it wasn't Henry. It was Ron. She really didn't want anything to happen with Henry. He was very handsome but Hermione felt like it was wrong to do that to Ron. Even though she wasn't positive he returned her feelings, she still felt like she was betraying him by acting this way with Henry.

            Suddenly she felt his lips on her cheek. She started and turned to look at him. He was smiling coyly.

            "Like I said, you're very pretty." He leaned toward her and closed his eyes. She closed her eyes too. Her heart was beating very fast.

            She could almost feel his lips moving closer. She opened her eyes and saw his face about half an inch from hers. "No," she muttered, turning her cheek. She felt his lips brush against it.

            "What?" he said, clearly bewildered.

            "I'm sorry Henry, I can't," Hermione said.

            "Do you have a boyfriend?"

            "No."

            "Then why—?"

            "I'm sorry, I just can't." She stood up and walked out of the room. She hurried back into the hallway, wrenched open the door, and swiftly ran for the comfort of her car.

            Once she had locked herself in the back seat, she sat staring at the head rest of the seat in front of her. Was she mad? He was so good looking! What the hell was she doing?

            She buried her face in her hands and breathed in deeply. Why had she just blown that? Sure, she had only just met the guy, but he was very handsome! And he had called her pretty!

            Her thoughts turned to Ron. She felt angry with him, even though he hadn't done anything. Was she just being stupid by waiting for him to come around? She had reason to suspect that he fancied her, including several things Ginny had told her, but what if she was wrong? Was she turning down guys for nothing?

            Now she thought of Viktor. He had wanted to pursue a romantic relationship with her, but she had pulled away from him too. She knew it was because of Ron and her feelings for him. Viktor understood and was willing to just be Hermione's friend. For this she was grateful. But when would Ron get the hint?

            She leaned back and stared at the roof of the car. She just had to be patient with him. It wasn't as if she was helping the matter much by always fighting with him. She thought of how he always infuriated her and all their endless bickering. Maybe she could work on that as part of Op: B.A. Her first step should be to reconcile with her mum. After all, she had to learn to control her temper.

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A/n: I hope everyone liked this chapter. I had fun picking out the names. Clarissa means "brilliance" so I thought it suited Hermione's mum. Henry is the name of one of my own summer flings, so I used his name for that character. If anyone can figure out why I picked "Danior" for Hermione's dad I'll dedicate chapter 4 to you. There's a very good reason.

I would appreciate any feedback. Just to let you know, when I get signed reviews I always click on the bios. So it's a good way to get me to read your stories. Please review!